


Mechanic

by pickleplum



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Epistolary, Gen, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, What some people thought of Raleigh after Knifehead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 21:44:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickleplum/pseuds/pickleplum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The PPDC weren't the only people looking for Raleigh Becket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mechanic

**[Sent via email, September 13, 2024]**  
Found an old Gipsy Danger jackets in the thrift store. If it was your size I’d send it home. I’ll get good use out of it though. Have an interview tomorrow. Mechanic work at the jaeger base. Fingers crossed.

 **[Sent via email, September 14, 2024]**  
Dad! I got the job! And you said there was no work in Anchorage anymore. They won’t say exactly what I’ll be doing yet. And the pay is great. I’ll make enough to send some home so watch the mail.

 **[Sent via email, September 17, 2024]**  
Get this. We’re restoring an old jaeger they brought up here from California and you’ll never believe it. It’s Gipsy Danger. Swear on Grandma’s rosary. I’ll get my first look at her tomorrow.

 **[Sent via email, September 18, 2024]**  
Holy shit she’s a mess. No arm, head caved in, big holes, rust _everywhere_. I don’t think they’ve touched her since she saved you.

You still planning on going out this season? Rumor up here is that some of the stocks are on the rebound, especially near Adak.

 **[Sent via email, September 19, 2024]**  
I found duct tape and marine caulk on the inside of the hull. Sloppy job too. Swear McTighe worked in here. Don’t worry. I fixed it the right way. I used more tape.

 **[Sent via email, September 20, 2024]**  
Kidding! We used all the tape we had on the reactor. No grandkids for you.

 **[Sent via email, September 21, 2024]**  
The head of the project came down to talk to us. She’s (she!) this tall (for a chick) Japanese chick that can’t be 20 yet but holy shit does she know her stuff. Tore into the chief welder when he tried to tell us to spot weld the wrong way on the outer hull. Idiot’s from Kansas. Doesn’t know salt water from apple juice. She lit him up good and didn’t even raise her voice. I like her.

Started asking around. No one’s seen him in years. Any luck on your end?

 **[Sent via email, September 24, 2024]**  
Met someone from the old days on my smoke break. Somebody Choi. Think he said he was the jaeger dispatcher. He hasn’t seen or heard from the guy since he was thrown out and they used to be friends.

 **[Sent via email, October 2, 2024]**  
Becket’s just vanished. People see him like they see Elvis. Everywhere. He’s inland. In Sydney. On the wall in Nome. Working the North Slope. Someone even saw his grave in Sitka. I’ll keep asking but he may just be gone. 

You hear anything?

 **[Sent via email, October 7, 2024]**  
Sounds like you had a good run. The new grounds worked huh? You didn’t mention it but I hope you didn’t see that Jaeger we sent that way. Is it just me or are there more kaiju these days?

Work is good. They’ve got me working on conduits for a new fluid synapse system whatever that is. Sounds important though.

 **[Sent via email, October 10, 2024]**  
They asked me to go to Hong Kong with Gipsy. It’s pretty much work for food so I won’t be able to send as much. At least they’ve promised to fly me out and back. There’s sure as hell no work here anymore. Everything is shutting down. Town’s gonna be empty soon. Kinda like how that kaiju wiped out the grounds last year.

 **[Sent via text message, October 13, 2024]**  
I’m going. Call you when we land.

 **[Sent via text message, October 14, 2024]**  
Holy shit. The food! We’ve got almost anything we can want. The port here is still open so everything can still get in. I haven’t seen this many working boats in years. It’s like old times in Anchorage or Dutch.

 **[Sent via email, October 20, 2024]**  
Jesus this place is bigger than the Icebox. But there are only three jaegers. Four if we finish Gipsy. They’re the only ones left. The locals say there are some eggheads in the basement saying the kaiju are going to get even worse and that these guys are usually right about this stuff.

 **[Sent via email, January 1, 2025]**  
Happy new year!

Gipsy’s almost ready to go. Just needs a few more patches and some tweaks to her reactor.

Rumor is the people at the top are looking for Becket along the wall in Alaska. They want him to pilot her again. I’ll write as soon as I hear anything.

 **[Sent via text message, January 3, 2025]**  
Word is they have Becket and are flying him in ASAP.

 **[Sent via email, January 3, 2025]**  
Becket’s supposed to be here but I’ve been too busy unseizing a diesel to look for him. That city boy I told you about didn’t tighten the pan right and all the oil drained. Idiot. It’s nothing a sledgehammer and a gallon of lube couldn’t fix. Just like we used to do it huh?

 **[Sent via email, January 7, 2025]**  
Still haven’t seen Becket but he’s testing Gipsy with a new pilot in the morning.

 **[Sent via test message, January 8, 2025]**  
THEY ALMOST BLEW US UP!!1!

 **[Sent via email, January 8, 2025]**  
I don’t know Dad, Becket might be washed up. He and his co-pilot--that Japanese chick in charge of my project--lost control and almost killed everyone. I’m still shaking. How did you look at that cannon firing up and not shit yourself?

 **[Sent via text message, January 8, 2025]**  
Two kaijus are headed for us. If I don’t talk to you again, you and mom take care of yourselves.

 **[Sent via text message, January 8, 2025]**  
STILL ALIVE

 **[Sent via email, January 9, 2025]**  
Have time to write now. Becket saved us. The kaijus trashed the other three Jaegers but he and Mori went out there with Gipsy and killed them both. No time to party cause we had to patch Gipsy again. They won but they really messed her up. Acid burns, holes, cracked welds, coolant leaks, ugh. We only had eight hours. We teamed up with the Russian crew since their jaeger got killed. Never thought I’d say this but thank old man Antonev for swearing at me in Russian all the time. Came in handy. Think I made some friends.

They just sent Gipsy and the Australians out again. I’m afraid of how much work we’ll have when they get back. They’re _walking_ across the bottom of the ocean. The deep part. It’s gonna be a mess. There’s two more kaijus and our guys are headed for the breach. I guess the idea is to try and close it once and for all. 

**[Sent via text message, January 9, 2025]**  
Breach is closed! Just announced. No word on our guys.

 **[Sent via text message, January 9, 2025]**  
Becket and Mori are coming back. The Aussies are dead. So’s Gipsy. BUT WE FUCKING WON!

 **[Sent via email, January 9, 2025]**  
Finally got close to Becket at the party. I told him want you wanted me to and gave him the St. George medal you sent. He looked surprised but said thanks and that he was glad you made it and remembered him. He seems like a really nice guy.

 **[Sent via email, January 17, 2025]**  
Just a few more things to wrap up here then I’ll be flying back to Anchorage. Maybe with no kaiju we can get Saltchuck back in shape and fish again. I miss open water.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [the prompt](http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/2747.html?thread=4758715#t4758715):  
> “Yes, Yancy and Raleigh defied Stacker's direct order to save a boat full of civilian fishermen, which ultimately delayed their reaction time to Knifehead and probably caused Gipsy Danger's to get destroyed the first time. But they still saved people's lives. So what do the fishermen and their families think of the surviving Jaeger Piolot, Raleigh, who gave them a chance? Especially when everyone else blames Raleigh for the disaster? Maybe some of them go on to work in the Jaeger program. Or their kids are inspired and go into the program. What about the grandfather and the little boy on the Alaska shore who witnesses Raleigh piloting Gipsy solo and ensuring the Jaeger doesn't crash into them? They could easily see Raleigh as a hero rather than a straight up screw up. Basically, I want to see how, in spite of Raleigh's mistake, he still had his heart in the right place and ultimately wants to save people. And those people, no mater how few of them there were, never forget that fateful day when some kid Jaeger pilot and his brother gave them a second chance.”
> 
> Dates based on the timeline from the wiki.


End file.
